Shark farming

[petmezz]

hi the though of farming sharks is a wonderful idea. the thought of eradicating shark Finning is even better.

a few ideas i would put forward from some one who has studied aquaculture.

Potential species - bull shark

why?

it requires little in water chemistry, it can live in salt, brackish and fresh water with out any special requirements. it grows relatively fast reaching full size in 10 years, though with some research you will probably find that with in a time of 2 to 4 years you can harvest your first batch. as far as sharks go it has a good reproduction being fast, largish litter and so on. remember your breeding stock is all that you need to reach full size the sharks you will sell don't need to be full size, again research is needed to the size the market will accept and the best profit margin for your endeavor. their should be little waste in this endeavor as the meat as well as the fins can be marketed as well as several organs of the shark. (i know this sounds crude sorry but farming is a crude business no matter what you are farming)

the other good thing about this species is you can feed it any thing and it will thrive, it is not a specialized feeder, yeh a high fish diet would be nice but not essential. you could possibly feed a pellet food to thus increasing growth rate and quality, with a high density regular food source, made predominately with fish meal and this food can be altered as research shows what the best growth rates to fat and protein levels and supplemented with wet feeds (fresh fish/ meat). in feeding every species is different and this is are evolutionary new field and copious amounts of research is needed.

once upon a time the salt water crocodile was suffering over hunting and was at risk of becoming extinct due to the leather industry. then some one seed lets try to farm them, i would love to see how much people laughed at that person the first person to say it out loud. but guess what their was a way, it is a booming industry in north Australia. and i can honestly see the same thing happening with sharks, it is just a matter of finding the right species and method.

to get around the "red tape" you will need to think out side the square again. in most western countries their will need to be years of impact studies and being told that this is not possible by blind bureaucrats who think the human race knows every thing their is to know, and you will most likely be stopped after spending thousands upon thousands to comply with their requirements. i would be looking at other countries with less regulations and a cheaper work force. (i know this sounds bad but it is good business strategy)

so that would be my suggestion, yes this species is dangerous to work with, but it has the most promising for aquaculture given it's ease of living in a wide array of environments.

i know this will not sit well with many people, but the ultamet aim is to protect sharks in the wild. this has the potential to do this. with clever marketing of the product (all parts of the shark) reducing the cost of the wild court sharks (thus making it less appealing to the cash straped fishermen) and essentially fludding the market with a supreem product can all help to protect the shark. education is also a key point changing peoples oppinions takes time but it is deffinatly needed to protect almost every species of animal, fish, crustation every thing....

just thinking

petmezz

[Prof.mauri]

Shark farming is possible!
As a marine biologist, commercial aquarium owner, fish farmer and committed shark conservationist the possibility of shark farming comes up regularly as a way of increasing shark populations for Marine protected areas. We have bred 6 different shark species and released many. I am currently raising funds to build a shark farm in Sabah Malaysia - NOT for fins - the idea is appalling - but for restocking in marine protected areas and for public aquariums. Public aquariums are a different topic but I personally believe they have role to play in protecting the ocean BUT need to reduce their environmental cost. A shark farm would provide an alternative to wild caught sharks on display. The area we are looking at is larger than the range of a white tip at about half a square kilometre. We would stock only at sustainable natural reef levels.
We (TRACC) have protected sharks by changing the law but that is only the first step, a marine protected area, ranch or farm where they can breed is also required to bring the numbers back to natural levels.

learn more - shark farming
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[PatW]

I have a hard time seeing how shark farming would be economically viable. Sharks are large, apex predators. As mentioned above, sharks have low reproductive rates. Sharks also have long life spans and slow growth rates. On top of that, sharks are predators and animal protein is not an inexpensive kind of feed.

Also, salmon are farmed. But I don't think that salmon farming has decreased the fishing pressure on native salmon. Also, farming salmon has its own adverse enironmental impact. The salmon feed is made up of fish meal so the farming is supported by killing large numbers of fish. The salmon farms produce a fair amount of pollution (uneaten food and salmon excrement). Salmon farms serve as a source of disease for native fish. So farmed salmon are a mixed bag.

Now farmed freshwater fish can have a beneficial impact. Farmed tilapia and catfish provide a fair amount of fish without the kinds of adverse impacts for salmon farming. For game fish, nearly all of the commercially available trout are farmed and the lowers the harvest on wide stocks.

[smellzlikefish]

Prof-Good on ya! Your organization sounds like an excellent step in the right direction. I am in the act of filling out a shark sighting data sheet now although admittedly, this may take a while.

As per your breeding program, somebody has kept a record of all known successful aquarium shark breeding events in the U.S. You might consult it for ideas of other species to add to your enclosed pond. I fail to remember where I saw it, but you might try checking with the American Elasmobranch Society or in the Elasmobranch Husbandry Manual.

As for waste management, I am currently involved with a project that has moved its aquaculture cage operation 40+ miles offshore into pelagic waters and away from delicate coastal habitats. If you are keeping or want to raise higher densities of predatory species, pelagic cages directly address most of the valid environmental concerns associated with aquaculture. More details can be found here: Kona Blue ventures into federal waters - SeafoodSource.com

Aquaculture for restocking MPA's and supplying aquariums is easily done through various means. Shark aquaculture for finning pressure alleviation, however, is probably a fantasy.

[Prof.mauri]

Thanks for the reference to shark breeding attempts, I will check it out.
We are not farming for fins! It doesn't make sense, we have spent years getting sharks onto the protected species list. Where I work, Sharks have low population densities, moving the few remaining individuals into a marine protected area makes lots of sense.
We wont have a major waste management issue since our stocking density is not much more than natural. Less than 10 sharks over 1m in one hectare (3.8 acres). We,re breeding sea cucumbers for release before anything else and they clean up extremely well.

[mattoau]

We can grow cartilage in the lab for medical reasons. Why not upscale to meet gastronomic requirements.